Indiana Beats Eastern Illinois 96-43 With Balanced Offense in Teri Moren's 400th Win
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Throughout coach Teri Moren’s 10-season tenure, Indiana women’s basketball has won each season opener.
The Hoosiers beat Eastern Illinois 96-43 Thursday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, marking Moren’s 400th all-time win in 21 seasons across three programs: the University of Indianapolis, Indiana State and Indiana. As the news was announced to fans postgame, “Moren” chants broke out in the crowd.
But for the first seven minutes of Thursday’s contest, Eastern Illinois stuck around with the No. 9 Hoosiers. The Panthers drove to the basket, sank four layups, and were only down by seven. Indiana, however, went on an 8-0 run in the final three minutes of the quarter, sparking the blowout.
The Hoosiers outscored Eastern Illinois 24-10 in the second quarter and 24-8 in the third to comfortably lead 77-32. Lexus Bargesser banked in two buzzer-beater jumpers at the end of the first and third quarters. The sophomore went 7-for-7 from the floor, and added 15 bench points. Sophomore starter Yarden Garzon also posted 15 points and led Indiana with seven assists.
“It seemed like we were trading baskets there for the first couple minutes in the game,” Moren said. “The great thing about [Bargesser], is that she can come in and she can change the rhythm of the game … Lexus came in and gave us great minutes … I thought Yarden was special in the first half just with her playmaking and really just sharing the ball.”
Indiana sharpshooter Sara Scalia connected on three shots beyond the arc in the opening 20-minute half and posted 13 points. Preseason All-American Mackenzie Holmes routinely bypassed Eastern Illinois’ double-teams in the post, and like last week’s exhibition, led all scorers with 19 points. Holmes went 9-for-10 from the floor, with six rebounds and four blocks.
“We put [Holmes] in scenarios every day,” Moren said. “We call it pounding the post. The ball is going to go inside to Mack and then she’s gonna get a double from somewhere on the floor. It’s not always the same person. So we try to be creative in creating some different kinds of scenarios that Mack has to read. We have to do a better job of cutting away from the ball.”
Holmes’ 19-point performance lifted the graduate student to third on Indiana’s all-time points list, one shy of Denise Jackson’s 1,917. Many Hoosiers contributed valuably in distinctive categories. Freshman Lenée Beaumont added nine bench points, sophomore Henna Sandvik had four assists, senior point guard Chloe Moore-McNeil had three steals, and senior Sydney Parrish also picked up steals and assists despite going 1-for-7 from the floor. Collectively, Indiana forced 22 turnovers Thursday.
Indiana’s lone standout fault was shooting just 2-for-11 at the free throw line.
“When [the team] congratulated me on my 400th win, I said, ‘So we're going to shoot 400 free throws tomorrow,’” Moren quipped. “I just found out [Wednesday] that I was that close on our other media call. So, stuff that I don't pay attention to. The only focus I had was this being our opener and beating Eastern Illinois and us getting off to a good start. But again, it's great.”
Bargesser not only noted that she has never drained two buzzer-beaters in one game, but also revealed that Moren was humble for not mentioning to the squad that Thursday could be the head coach’s 400th win. When asked if assistant coaches or relatives brought it to the head coach’s attention, Moren amusingly replied, they know better than not to do that.
With the 96-43 victory, Indiana moves to 1-0. The team’s schedule continues Sunday at 5 p.m. ET, as they travel to play No. 15 Stanford. The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN.
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